Lewis Trickett and the ASA Scaffolding Motocross Team started their British two-stroke championship campaign at Canada Heights on Sunday which was round three of the main MX1 and MX2 Maxxis British motocross championship and a great team effort earned them third overall and a podium position at the teams very first attempt.
Trouble with the bikes front brake meant that Lewis didn’t get all the qualifying time he would have liked but this must ohave fired him up because when Lewis did get out on the track, he posted the fourth fastest time which was just over two seconds off the fastest pace set by Dutchman and last year’s EMX300 European champion, Mike Kras.
The Sidcup clubs excellent Canada Heights track was hard and fast because of all the dry weather we have been having and it was obvious that Kras was going to be the man to beat as from the very drop of the start gate at the beginning of race one he was off like a scolded cat.
But Lewis was on his tail in second place with the evergreen Neville Bradshaw, sand specialist Matt Moffat and the up and coming Jake Edey in his wheel tracks.
Bradshaw managed to find a way past Lewis at the end of the second lap as the top three riders started to open a gap over the rest of the riders, headed up by Moffat and Jim Davidson.
The top four remained in that order till the end of the eighteen minute plus a lap race with Kras taking the first win of the series by just over four seconds from Bradshaw.
Lewis was in his own in third seven seconds clear of Moffat with Damon Strydom rounding out the top five
At the start of the second race Phil Mercer got the holeshot from Lewis, Bradshaw and Aaron McCarroll with Kras in fifth, but as the riders came round to complete there first lap Lewis was in the lead and going well.
It took till lap four for the fast Bradshaw to find a way to get past Lewis and into the lead and by the time Kras was in third place and closing in on the two leaders.
With four laps to go Kras pushed Lewis down to third place and two laps later he snatched the lead and the win from Bradshaw with Lewis coming home in third again but almost twenty-five seconds clear of fourth place man Jamie Skuse as Moffat finished fifth.
“It’s been a really good day for the team” said Lewis after racing had finished, “We had a couple of problems which we overcame in qualifying so we didn’t get the gate pick we wanted but it didn’t seem to matter as I had two good starts in the top three. In the first race I stayed with Mike (Kras) for a while but I didn’t feel comfortable running that pace so I dropped off a bit, which is when Neville (Bradshaw) who was riding really, well came past me so I finished third. I was happy with my third place as it’s a good start to the series. In race two after another good start I passed Phil (Mercer) for the lead but seemed to tighten up a bit which is when Neville and Mike came past me. To be honest they were riding better than me this week. But two third places for third overall is a good place to start the two-stroke championship.”
Words and pics by Dick Law.